Dangerous dog ordinance amendments move forward

At its regular meeting Thursday night, the Lee's Summit City Council directed city staff to draft an ordinance amending the city's dangerous dog ordinance to include raising required liability insurance for pet owners to a $300,000 policy, a new licensing fee structure for annual and lifetime pet licenses, restrictions on breeding and breeding permits and new tethering regulations.

The council is expected to vote on the proposed ordinance within the next few weeks, although no date was set.

The proposed ordinance requires that owners of puppies pay a $20 fee to license the dog in the first year of its life. After one year of age, the dog's owner must either have the dog spayed or neutered to obtain a free altered pet license or pay a $50 fee to keep the dog unaltered.

Dogs allowed to be unaltered also are limited to being competition dogs, dogs used by a law enforcement agency, qualified assistance dogs, dogs that cannot be spayed or neutered because of a medical risk, or a dog owned, kept or maintained for breeding purposes, according to the proposed ordinance.

Residents can obtain a litter permit for $20, but only if they intend to have a maximum of one puppy or kitten litter. If a pet owner wants more than one litter, an annual breeding permit fee of $300 would be required. Breeding permits would not be required for boarders and veterinarians, unless they also breed dogs, said Ken Conlee, Lee's Summit Police Department chief.

Failure to spay or neuter a pet without a breeding/litter permit would result in a $50 fee for the first offense and $100 for each additional offense. Failure to obtain a litter permit would result in a $20 fine per puppy.
Other proposed amendments to the current dangerous dog ordinance include limiting tethering to one half hour with constant owner supervision and no tethering allowed in front yards.

The fee for impounding an unlicensed, altered pet would stay the same at $20 for the first offense and $30 for each future offense.

The charge for the first offense on unaltered dogs would be $60, which is up from $30 under the current ordinance. The second offense would be $100. Each subsequent impoundment would be $150, Conlee said.
The Lee's Summit Police Department, Community De-velopment Committee and a council subcommittee spent nearly six months researching and taking public input on possibly creating breed-specific legislation as it relates to large dogs.

Dogs referred to as pit bulls initially were targeted by City Councilmember Ed Cockrell, who chairs the subcommittee. However, Cockrell along with the other subcommittee members ultimately opted in December 2006 to strengthen the city's dangerous dog ordinance because enough evidence had been presented to show that BSL does little to effect change in the number of dog bites and attacks each year.

Source: www.lsjournal.com